A small, semi-urban vegetable garden in Des Moines, IA

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Plan

After careful consideration of what I think my family and I could eat, along with the cost of the real estate (less yard = less play-space), this is the plan I created. This is based on the Square Foot Gardening method, with some minor modifications. Want to know how much you can get from each square? This will give you a general idea.

Vegetables

# Plots

Plants/Plot

Total Plants

Yield (8/7/2010)

Basil

2

4

8

Beans – Pole

4

8

32

6 lb 3 oz

Broccoli

8

1

8

8 heads*

Carrots

4

16

64

21

Cilantro

2

1

2

Cucumbers

4

2

8

7 lb 1 oz (17)

Dill, Dwarf

2

1

2

a lot!

Green Onion

NA

NA

32

11 bunches

Lettuce – Leaf

2

4

8

6 heads*

Onion

4.5

16

72

Peas – Snap

3

8

24

3 lb, 8 oz*

Pepper – Bell

4

1

4

1

Pepper – Jalepeno

2

1

2

1 3/4 oz (4)

Potato (young/new)

4

4

16

1 lb 10 oz

Radishes

NA

NA

32

1 lb

Romaine

3

4

12

9 heads

Spinach

2

9

18

4 bunches

Summer Squash

9

1/9

1

4 lb 15 oz (13)

Tomato

2

1

2

3 lb 12 oz (4)

Tomato – Cherry

2

1

2

2 lb 2 oz

Tomato – Roma

4

1

4

7 lb 6 oz (34)

Zucchini

18

1/9

2

11 lb 6 oz (27)

The radishes and green onions will not have their own dedicated space as I will be placing them in the empty nooks and crannies around some of the others. Broccoli will be placed in the corners of the 3×3 squash plots as it should be harvested before the squash gets too big.

The yield column is what has been harvested as of the date shown. I decided to use common grocery store units to make it easier to determine value ($). Once all of the vegetable is pulled, I will include an indicator (*) to signify the harvest for that type is complete.